Serco Health, part of Serco Group plc, the international service and outsourcing company, has implemented Datix web-based incident and risk management software to improve safety at various healthcare organisations and seven prisons throughout the UK. At the same time, the deployment of Datix is helping Serco Health to meet the requirements of the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and comply with the high standards of industry bodies such as the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) now known as the National Reporting and Learning System (NRLS).

Before Datix, Serco Health relied on a purpose-built civil government tool followed by an in-house developed system to monitor incidents across the company’s diverse client base. The takeover of Braintree Community Hospital in 2011 and the subsequent need for a more robust, clinical approach to incident management drove Serco Health to invest in new technology. Datix was selected on account of its ease of use and the company’s excellent track record in the healthcare sector.

The new web-based Datix system went live at Braintree Community Hospital at the end of 2011 followed just three months later in the rest of Serco’s business spanning a community hospital, two forensic medical departments, a GP out-of-hours service, two immigration centres, a secure training centre and four prisons.

Serco Health is already reaping the benefits of the Datix system, with clinicians finding a single, accessible reporting tool a great benefit in assisting timely reporting, management and analysis of incidents

Pauline Cichy, Lead Nurse and Head of Clinical Governance at Serco Health commented, “Datix provides total transparency and clarity. All data relating to our wide-ranging client contracts is stored centrally in one place. At a glance, we have a totally unified view of what is happening, a much better understanding of our business and the confidence to report

back to senior management with accurate information that supports decision making.”

This is particularly important for areas of healthcare that are unique to some contracts Serco Health delivers. An example is the early identification of individuals who self-harm in prisons. Serco Health can use Datix to obtain hard evidence and establish areas where extra vigilance from staff or further training is required. This improves employee morale and guarantees greater safety for the offenders they are tasked to protect.

Serco Health managers and staff cite the simplicity of the Datix Risk Register as a major advantage even going so far as to compare it with a “an online shopping list”. Using this module, they can quickly populate the system with different risk areas and assign colour codes to each stage such as risk type, where it was, where it is now and what is being done to address it. Managers appreciate the transparency of the system where their input receives instant feedback, an improvement over the days before Datix when people had to get a verbal response from the Healthcare Managers on an incident they may had reported earlier.

Datix also provides an accurate audit trail, essential when presenting trend and performance reports to important industry bodies such as the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Serco Health has been particularly impressed by the training and technical support provided by Datix. Next on the horizon is expanding Serco Health’s trend analysis activities and working closely with the industry to share National data for benchmarking projects. Serco Health looks forward to using the Datix CQC Standards module. This is a Datix application pre-loaded with CQC’s 28 essential standards to provide real-time monitoring and management of Serco Health’s CQC standards across multiple client contracts.

Jonathan Hazan, Chief Executive of Datix, concluded, “Serco Health’s commitment to excellence and innovation is reflected in its approach to technology. By adopting a platform that is commonly used by many of its clients, Serco Health can integrate easily with other major players in the healthcare community and so promote industry best practice. By demonstrating innovation in comparatively new markets like the prison service, Serco is certainly setting standards among independent health sector providers and we look forward to supporting them in the future.”

About Serco HealthSerco Health is part of Serco Group Plc, the international service and outsourcing company that has delivered essential public services for more than 40 years.

Serco Health supports the National Health Service by working in long-term partnerships to deliver and support primary and acute care services. It uses its capabilities in transformation, service integration and redesign to help the NHS meet the financial and organisational challenges facing it today whilst maintaining the quality and availability of services.

One of the leading providers of occupational health services, Serco Health supports the well-being of over 450,000 employees nationwide in the public, private and voluntary sectors. The company has also become the leading independent provider of custodial health services, providing for thousands of offenders in prisons across the UK.

About DatixDatix has been a pioneer in the field of patient safety since 1986 and is today the leading supplier of software for patient safety, risk management, incident and adverse event reporting. Datix aims to help healthcare organisations build a culture and practice that drives excellence in patient safety. It recruits and retains people committed to the healthcare sector and continually invests in its software and services to ensure that it integrates best practice and learning.

Datix is focused on the health and social care sector. Its customers include public and private hospitals, primary care providers, GP surgeries, mental health and ambulance service providers. Its clients also include organisations delivering care home and domiciliary care services. Within the UK this includes more than 70% of the National Health Service. Internationally the Datix client base is growing rapidly and includes large scale deployments in Canada and the USA as well as clients in Europe, Australia and the Middle East.